Underneath: A Filmic Novella

by Oli Jacobs

Terry King is a man damaged by his personal demons. With an ex-wife and son who don't want to see him and a career lost to drink, he's at rock bottom when an offer to be security at Station 17 arises.

Based near the recently discovered Shackleton Trench, Terry arrives to find things are not what they seem, the rig being a front for a vast underwater research facility led by Walker. However down beneath the depths, Terry soon finds his demons becoming real as the Station's discovery infects the crew and Terry finds he has to fight not only his issues, but the creatures from the depths, to survive.

Underneath: A Filmic Novella is a story 8 years in development from Oli Jacobs. Inspired by classic stories The Thing and The Shining, it brings a brand of horror that will both chill and disturb.

Remember, you never know what lurks Underneath...

110 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 2012

About the author

Oli Jacobs is a bearded chap who enjoys spinning a yarn or two. While now a hermit, he has been rumoured to be seen drinking beer and enjoying chicken in the wilds of Southampton. If seen, please approach gently as he has severe anxiety and may cry.

As well as Wilthaven, Oli has also wrote other Horror (The Children of Little Thwopping, The Station 17 Chronicles), Comedy (the Kirk Sandblaster series), Thriller (the Mr Blank series), and short stories (the Filmic Cuts series).

As always, he hopes you enjoy.

Reviews

[Adrian Coombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

A nice easy read, rattled along nicely, perhaps lacking in something to make it stand out, or be original as such. So whilst I like the movie feel familiarity, I wanted something more as well.

[Andrew Lawston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Oli Jacobs's first collection of short stories, so was keen to read Underneath, as an extended piece of prose.

Unfortunately a decent claustrophobic horror story is let down by constant errors. I can always forgive the odd typo, but after a fairly solid opening chapter, there is on average at least one punctuation or grammatical error on every page. Many are misplaced apostrophes, but then there are missing prepositions and other lesser sins. Individually, each is negligble, but the cumulative effect of relentless errors jerked me right out of the narrative.

There's also the ending, which I gave the benefit of the doubt as it was ambiguous - but then the author's note removes any shred of ambiguity. Which is... regrettable.

I'm disappointed as I really really wanted to like this book, and there's a decent story that would take just one more editing pass to really sharpen. I've tweeted and Goodreaded with Jacobs and he's both a dedicated and talented writer. But the simple fact is that this book wasn't ready to meet the world, and it's unworthy of him in its current form.

[Lou Freya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story that had me eager to pick up my kindle each night. It's a story filled with horror at almost every turn, so I'd recommend you don't do what I did and read it in bed. Underneath - try Nightmare! More than once I woke up after imagining what I was reading. The writer manages to awaken your own imagination with this story. It's vivid description common my to life in the confines of your kindle. Is not a long book and is written well, allowing you to read it quickly, however it stays with you long after you've put it down.

But what really happened down there? I have my own theory and wonder, how much was real and how much did Station 17 drive Terry to the brink...